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Friday, January 30, 2015

Church devotion: Never on A Sunday - Psalm 40:4

Psalm 40:4 Blessed
is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who
does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to
false gods.

For some reason, this verse bothers
me a lot. It makes me wonder about the present state of Christianity. Do we
trust the LORD completely, or are we too proud to humble ourselves before Him?
Have we turned aside from the truth and replaced Christ with false gods of
ambition and wealth, success and celebrity? Are we in danger of losing our life-long
faith to short-term moments? Are we captivated by fictional characters rather
than being inspired by Biblical ones? Are we more in tune with ourselves than
we actually are with God?

In recent years, I've seen less
people in church on Sunday mornings than ever before. Folks are more into
playing and partying than praising God. Church is becoming irrelevant and
unnecessary; belief in God is a personal thing anyway, so why disturb a good
Sunday morning’s rest by sitting on a hard pew for over an hour? Going to a
restaurant for Sunday brunch, where people are happy, makes much better sense
than being among somber and solemn people who appear to be God’s frozen chosen.
Life is for living! Get out of church and smell the roses! “Go and play,” not “go
and pray” should be the motto of our lives!

And then I read today’s verse and it
reminds me that proud people usually end up following false gods. Those of us
who still go to church go there, not because we are any better than anyone
else, but because we recognize that we are imperfect and need to humble
ourselves before the One who created us. We sit in church because we understand
our weaknesses and seek forgiveness for our failings. We are not religious
people; we are grateful people.

Perhaps when our society has wearied
itself of following after false gods, instant gratification, reality idols,
cable shows, and meteoric celebrities, it will seek real life. I hope so,
because there is something grander than greatness, better than beauty, and more
fulfilling than fame, which can still be found in church on Sunday mornings. J

Questions for reflection

Am I as closely
connected to God as I once was? Who moved?

Prayer: Lord God of Life, we have wandered
away from You and followed our own paths. We think that we know everything, but
we forget that only You know everything. Forgive our foolish notions and
protect us from making false gods. Lead us back to Your Kingdom. Bring us back
to Your Church. In Christ’s Name, we pray. Amen.

John
Stuart is currently the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee.
If you would like to comment or ask a question about today’s message, please
send him an email to Traqair@aol.com.

Today’s
image is one of John’s latest Good Friday drawings. It’s called “Tattoo Master,”
which is an ink drawing of Christ on the Cross, tattooed with lashes, blood,
and bruises. If you would like to view a larger version, please click on the
following link: Tattoo.